Elaine Silburn

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.

As some of you know, a week ago Saturday, on April 1st, Mom and I were at lunch when she began having minor symptoms of stroke. We called the rescue squad and she was admitted for tests and observation. From these tests it was determined that she had some blockage in her middle cerebral artery. However, her symptoms were very mild and the doctors determined that the best course of action would be to send her home on "Triple Therapy" which is a combination of aspirin, Plavix and Eliquis. Throughout the next week, Mom was still having some tingling in the right side of her face, but it was difficult to determine if these were new symptoms or residual symptoms from the small strokes over the weekend.

On Thursday, April 6th, Mom called me, a little after noon, concerned that in addition to the tingling, she was noticing some weakness in her right arm and leg. We returned to the hospital and they admitted her for more observation and concluded that she should have an angiogram to help determine the extent of the blockage.

The angiogram was performed on Friday afternoon and indeed it did show that there were two sites of occlusion, one which the Dr. felt he could stent and another, much smaller area, which he could not. Unfortunately, shortly after the angiogram procedure, Mom developed internal bleeding, in her groin, at the site of the puncture. This lead to a dramatic drop in blood pressure, causing life threatening stroke symptoms. (Fortunately, we do not think this particular incident left much damage.) The hospital team responded very quickly, raising her blood pressure and she quickly recovered. The Dr. scheduled her stent procedure for Monday, April 10th.

Following surgery on Monday, the Dr. informed me that the surgery did not go well and they were unable to place a stent in the artery. They were able to use a small wire to clear out some of the debris (this is my "layman's'" version), but an area of of her brain was occluded for approximately 45 minutes while she was in surgery and the team worked to remove the blockage.

She's fought a mighty struggle this week and this afternoon, as I write this note to you, she is sitting up in a chair, moving both of her legs and using her left hand. She is still weak on her right side, but we're beginning to see some improvement in her right arm as well. She's working very hard at opening her mouth and moving her tongue. We're still waiting for her speech to return. It will take some time, but we're hopeful that she'll be able to recover.

Although she's unable to talk (at the moment) I know she'd love to hear from you! Please send cards C/O Carla Moody, 103 Juniper Lane, Charlottesville, VA 22911. She is still in the ICU at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville. We are AMAZED by the wonderful, compassionate, care she has received. We're hopeful that she will graduate to the regular floor in a day or so. I will use this site to keep you updated. Much love, Carla